00:00In Bukavu, eastern Congo, tension is rising as residents struggle to cope with a shortage of usable banknotes following the takeover by the M23 rebel group in February.
00:09Ale Mukumiro, a free technician, expressed his frustration, saying shopkeepers refuses damaged money despite it being exchanged with local money changers for small amounts.
00:19I came to buy the tools I will use to repair filters and roads but they refused the money on the pretext that it is damaged or my money has numbers but they refuse it because it has been glued together and especially these perforated bills that they have punched holes in and patched back together.
00:35They refuse all these bills and yet I just exchange them with money changers on the road.
00:40Since the city banks were closed by authorities, many people have resorted to using old torn nose causing confusion among buyers and sellers.
00:47We take this money in exchange for small amounts.
00:51These perforated bills for 20,000 Congolese francs, we give the owners 5,000 and 5,000 Congolese francs to 500.
00:59The M23 takeover in the region has destabilized the governance and control by the authorities while also disrupting business flow.
01:07David Younger, an economics professor, argued that these damaged banknotes should be accepted as a valid currency given the lack of cash flow from the government.
01:20We are virtually cut off from the world as far as the part of the government that actually has the power to print money is actually concerned.
01:28While the M23's governor recently opened a bank for exchanging damaged notes for new ones, the overwhelming demand led to a suspension of operations.
01:39With the humanitarian crisis worsening and daily lives disrupted, residents like Mukomira are left struggling to feed their families amidst the chaos.
01:47Thank you very much.
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